A year in Vancouver!

And all the Muses; if you bring no gift… out you go.

I started the activities this week on an altogether far too zealous note. After hauling myself up the Grouse Grind last weekend I was a little horrified to find out that my time was only average. Given the effort I put in I felt I deserved a little better. So in an attempt to feel I have achieved something I set out on Wednesday afternoon to improve it.

Obviously I did as anyone would do in a similar situation and prepared fully for the challenge. No, I didn’t enlist the help of the tried and tested carb loading program- and yes, chocolate brownies count as carbs, nor did I substitute the all important carbonated drink for the altogether more suitable sports drink, energy drink or just plain water. I went for the clothing. As everyone who has ever taken part in a sports related challenge knows the outfit is everything. So, once again thanks to Nike and diet coke I was totally looking the part and ready for the uphill.

The clothing may have made me a little overconfident to start with as I think I took the first part a little too fast, as I then spent the next three quarters of the way feeling like I was slowing down or about to explode through lack of oxygen. I was also a little concerned that since last Saturday the route seems to changed somewhat due to chunk of mountain disappearing. My first encounter with disappearing mountains was in Colorado last summer when a sign warned of falling rocks. Sure enough in the five minutes it took to pull over and take a photograph the road was littered with boulders! So while making me a little nervous I was going to be fine. I was entrusting my safety to a Nike t-shirt after all. I have to say, looks apparently are important as I managed to cut seven minutes off my time! Yay me. So with 1:04 a new personal best I’m aiming to match it again this week (or possible cut a few more minutes off…)

By Saturday I had decided that a little bit of culture was in order and I thought a visit to the art gallery to see the “Dutch Masters” exhibit was the way to get it. While Vermeer was a prominent artist at the exhibition “The Girl with the Pearl Earring” was not on show, which didn’t stop the gift shop being full of articles and copies of it. I did however thoroughly enjoy the precision with was shown in most of the paintings on display, and was totally entranced with the thought of looking through someone’s head into a world from 350 years ago, seeing the people, writing their stories, imagining who they must have been, what they would have been like to know, what they were thinking whilst being painted, it is like people watching in the past…

While the “Dutch Masters” exhibit was my primary reason for the trip I was entirely taken with a reclaimed house installation. It was spread over four floors and every item had come from one of many houses that had recently been demolished or restyled. At the bottom it was all very 1940s style and original furniture and fittings, and as the house meandered up through the floors of the gallery the atmosphere and eras changed until the later 1980s and early 1990s on he top floor. As you may have guessed by now I like art that I can make links to and create stories about, and this gave me many opportunities to place people into these areas, to image families about the table in the kitchen, to wonder what news was conveyed on the old phones, to think about the reactions and joy, sadness moving occasions each room could have seen, or the stories the pieces told.

I was in luck as this theme continued into the photography on the top floor. I do sometimes have issues with photography as art, I’m never keen on pieces that look like holiday snaps, I can be impressed with the light, or the texture or the fact it takes up a space the size of a small country, but I do like to have a story, a point of view or a collection of emotions that I can attach to a photograph, which is easy if it is a snap I took of something important to me, but much harder when looking through someone else’s camera. My favorite two photographs being one of an apartment building at night with all the lights on and various movements showing through the illuminated windows and the other a departure board at an airport. I do at this point have to admit my negligence at not looking at the artists’ names, and must make a mental note to go back and check.

Sunday was shopping day, and I have eventually gotten around to buying new running shoes! So not only will I have to stop complaining about how useless my old ones were, but I should now be able to run amazingly well, because as I have already attested to, the right shoes are really all you need…

A year in Vancouver!

It’s stupid to complain about misfortune that is your own fault…

Although, slightly exciting I did walk through a film set a movie they are making in the park- "Charlie St. Cloud" so look out for me when it is in the movie theater :) (I did make very sure not to be in any shots!) I've also seen part of a set for Twilight- I think! They are making a lot of graveyard movies here at the minute. Was really quite odd because they have added trees and flowers and other general park like objects- not just head stones and angles- and not being very observant it took me ages to work out why I couldn't go where I thought the path was. I spent a good five minutes standing looking stupid thinking- "I'm sure these bushes and trees never use to be here, I'm fairly certain this is the path I usually walk on" and trying to work out where I had gotten lost before realizing that actually they were movie trees- real trees, but on wooden boards as movie props- D'oh.

The football was kinda weird and my attention wandered fairly fast, thus I missed the first two touchdowns entirely. The national anthem took me a little by surprise- should have thought it through but was expecting a stirring rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner", was odd to hear "Oh Canada" instead, but was the first time I have heard it since moving, so I remark on it as an occasion. Then I was busy critiquing the "Dance Team's" boots which were shocking! Orange PVC knee high boots just don't work on anyone, and half these girls weren't going to look good ever, and even I can dance better than them- which is not a good thing. If you fall into the too chubby and too ugly to be a real cheerleader category you have to join a dance team. Then again some of the football players were obviously not cut out for running and wobbled and rippled as they waddled onto the pitch. I'm guessing these were the throwing and kicking guys. I also discovered fairly early on why a game that should take an hour (4 1/4s of 15 mins each) takes nearly three hours... The whistle blew; the guy in blue took the first kick, the ball bounced... And a whole 4 seconds into the game it stopped for a time out while 10 of the 12 players swapped off the pitch! Having previously (yes, my time in Houston did teach me something sports related) worked out that this is a game played on a grid iron field I was under the (mis) apprehension that the idea was to get the ball from down the field into the end zone. Touch down, field goal- crowd cheers etc. The BC lions seem to have neglected to implement this fact into their game strategy and spent a lot of time running left to right on the forty yard line. I think I may know why they didn’t win. This game is insane.

Other questions I am still pondering- Why the BC Lions are called that, why the logo looks nothing like a lion (mountain or otherwise), why the Lions headquarters is called The Shark Club, why they play in bright orange, and why everywhere I go in this city I can smell people smoking a joint (although they hide it very well and I rarely see them)? You could smell it all the way from the sky train to the stadium, despite the number of police around, and all the way back and even on the train.... I have decided after having a huge coughing fit and possibly inhaling more smoke than whoever lit the one on the train I don't have a sore throat and cough at all I am actually suffering from joint inhalation! Which, never having done it myself is a new experience. I'm sure it is worse than Amsterdam here.

This weekend has really been quite busy and Saturday saw the sun shinning, beautiful blue skies and very pleasant temperatures, thus the original plan of wandering around Granville Island, sitting in a coffee shop and walking along False Creek was shelved and the Grouse Grind Challenge was met head on. Grouse Mountain is visible from all over Vancouver and the cable car ride to the top is a very popular tourist attraction. However, the cable car trip (up and down) cost $40.00, however, there is a foot powered route (I hesitate to use the word walk) to the top which is entirely free, and the cable car experience is a mere $5.00 to ride from the top back to the base of the mountain. Being completely tight I was going to walk up the mountain. I had a bottle of coke and Nike shoes (no, they aren’t sponsoring this!) so of course I was ready for a walk. It was 2K, how hard could it be? The first ¼ of the walk was steep and I was a little concerned at the amount of heavy breathing I seemed to be doing so soon into it. Surely it should be this hard? It was at this point that I realized it was more of a climb than a walk, and the park people had kindly created a type of step system to help walkers. At the ¼ way point the signs became a little more disturbing. The route was about to become much steeper (40% incline-so the helpful sign said) and the make shift steps seemed to disappear. I was now making my way up rocks and dirt and using hands and knees to keep balanced. I’ve been up rock climbing walls with less gradient than this! In retrospect I also realize how overly premature my joy at seeing sky was at this point! There was me thinking I must be near the top if I could see sky, turns out that there were just fewer trees at this level. Anyway, an hour and ten minutes after I started out I reached the top (they have a handy timer to let you know your result) and the views were sublime. It was one of the most exhilarating things I have done since I got here. So much so in fact, that I think I may go back next week and see if I can get up there any quicker. It was a complete workout as anyone listening to me whinge about how much my butt checks ache can attest to.

Having made it to the top I walked around with my camera out marveling at the total awe inspiring views (I do think everyday how lucky I am to live in such an amazing area of the world). I also managed to see the bears, and while I won’t bore you with all the interesting facts and details I picked up I was hugely impressed that this one was just less than 9” tall, weighed about 1000lbs and could sleep for eight months of the year! I was also more than a little scared at the size of its paws and the length and sharpness of its claws. If you would like any other bear facts please feel free to email me, but I thought I ought to scale back on the nature studies lesson I was about to deliver. J The cable car trip back down the mountain was definitely worth the $5.00 I paid. Whilst the views continued to be unbelievably gorgeous over the tree canopy it was hard to fully appreciate them whilst packed in a metal container with about 75 other people. I am really feeling quite optimistic about the next trip out there.

Today finally saw the long awaited and anticipated trip to Granville Island. Having read and heard so many great things about this quirky place I had high hopes and was looking forward to a relaxing afternoon of surprising gallery type stores and people watching with a drink and something to eat. Unfortunately, and by now I really should know better, the traffic and parking situation were to work against me. I will apologize in advance for the following rant, but my frustration levels quickly began to grow as the amount of road works and diversions increased. It really can be draining and take an unprecedented amount of time to drive around this city. Therefore, by the time I arrived on Granville Island I was already a little stressed and uptight. The lack of parking only added to this frustration as did the unnoticing and unthinking pedestrians. Granville Island is very pedestrian friendly with crawl like speeds for cars and designated crossing points every 20 yards, yet still people feel it necessary to walk into the middle of the street and stop and chat to their friend. I may possibly have embarrassed myself slightly by throwing my hands up in the air and yelling for people to get on the sidewalk (there may have been a few less polite words in that sentence) before realizing that the window was open. Whoops.

By the time I had parked and walked back I wasn’t in the most receptive frame of mind, and the queues and people wandering aimlessly continued to irritate me. I do have to say, that despite the lack of sitting and the immensely crowded stalls the Public Market was fantastic. There was no sort of food product you could not buy. The choice was staggering and endless, with vast quantities of fresh fruit and vegetables piled up. If I had had the patience to wade through the crowds where the bakeries and confectionary looked delicious I might have saved myself a trip to the grocery store later. However, I can see the potential of the market and I think a better prepared trip might yield higher rewards, so there will be a next time very soon, and before I head out I will take a deep breath and count to 10….

All in all I have had a fantastic time this weekend and I look forward to creating plans for next week.

A year in Vancouver!

They don’t care for good drivers or fast horses now…

Just strong legs and a complete inability to feel pain were required today. As promised and talked about for the past three weeks today I headed out to Whistler for the Canadian Cheese Rolling festival. Cheese rolling is pretty self-descriptive in so far as an 11-pound cheese wheel is thrown down a hill and everyone chases it. On the way down, racers lose their footing and end up tumbling, rolling, sliding and bumping down. Hence the inability to feel pain, and I have to say a fair few people were limping around and dripping blood. Traditionally, the first person to get down the hill to the finish line wins the race and the cheese. I’m told this is originally an English sport- Gloucestershire and while I’d love to say that can’t be right, I figure something had to be developed to keep folks entertained while the cricket was on.

Needless to say, while I had no intention of throwing myself down a hill, I know, I lack a sense of adventure, I did enjoy watching various people dressed as a mouse, a cat, a herd of cows, and one man (undressed) in a bath robe chasing cheese. Maybe next year I’ll have padded up and kitted out and decided a season lift pass is worth the pain and agony of throwing myself down a mountain and after an 11 pound cheese.

Having made the 125KM drive out to Whistler I thought I have a wander around. After a small temper tantrum in the parking lot I managed to find somewhere to leave the car and set off to see the town. Whistler Village is a purpose built ski resort, and hugely busy all year round. Despite this, and the slightly manufactured feel to it, I did find it rather quaint and pretty. All the buildings have been kept in an Alpine style and it isn’t hard to imagine it 6’ deep in snow and Heidi skipping through the square. The lifts are running up the mountain all year round. In the summer for hiking and biking and a biking completion was taking place. This weekend was a mountain biking competition from Whistler Village down to the valley floor, through “BC’s epic biking tracks”. This was supplemented by the VW Trick Showdown in which riders clung onto bikes as they hurtled down a ramp and turned summersaults in the air. Very much like the aerial skiers at the Cheese Rolling. Again, I think a wish to stare death in the face and a complete in ability to feel pain was needed, as worryingly the air ambulance passed over head more than once.

The drive back provided one last chance to see the amazing and breathtaking scenery of Britannia Bay and Garibaldi Provincial Park. I really do live in the most amazing place. It is truly awesome. The mountains still have snow on the top, the lakes and bays are an unbelievable blue, and it is totally unspoiled (in so many places) affording views of lakes, rivers, forests, glaciers and mountains. I have added this to my list as a place to drive back out to in a few weeks time, when I have time to wander around, visit Shannon Falls and even pay a visit to the Mining Museum. Watch this space…

All in all, a mixed and interesting day. It was probably worth the trip out just for the Sea to Sky Highway- Route 99- when the improvements for the Olympics are completed it will be a fantastic road to drive, in the mean time it has annoyingly slow speed restrictions (in places- mainly where it has already been improved and no-one is allowed to drive for fear of ruining the new surface before the Games) but the most fantastic views imaginable.

A year in Vancouver!

A handsome face is a silent testimonial…

And really what can I say about the sheer beauty of the Capilano River, suspension bridge that crosses it and the treetop walk way on the far side.

I have been thinking about this trip for a few weeks now, it has been appealing but put on the back burner on a couple of occasions due to events that have seemed a little more time sensitive. Anyway, today was the day I was going to get there, come what may. That is until I woke up to grey skies. I was a little dubious but packed a bag for the day determined to continue with my plans. Then the rain started… and didn’t stop.

Now, disappointed just about starts to fill in how I felt. Not because I was going to miss out, there is after all, always next week- well I’m going to Whistler to watch the annual Canadian Cheese Rolling, but the week after is looking good, it was more the sinking feeling that goes with knowing you have been planning something for a few weeks and now you have to rethink. I was fairly determined to do something new today and continue with the “getting to know the city” streak I have going. So, I decided to check out more indoor options. The list was narrowed down to the Aquarium, the Rembrandt exhibit at the art gallery, Science World and if the rain eased off Granville Island. The list became shorter still when the rain continued, ruling out Granville Island, Science World looked very child friendly (not that this will stop me going) and had some more interesting exhibits arriving in September and the art gallery was cheaper if booked online for a future week. So, by process of elimination the Aquarium was top of the list, and I set off for Stanley Park.

Turns out 80% of Vancouver had the same idea, and people were queuing outside the Aquarium for about 90 minutes waiting to get tickets. The thought of fighting for a parking spot and then standing in the rain was enough to put me off this plan too. I figured if I was going to be out in the rain, and I thought I could see a chink of blue in the distance, I might as well be moving as queuing and Capilano was the place to be. So, original plan back in place I headed over the bridge to North Van. By the time I had parked the rain had stopped and the temperature was heading up.

The Capilano Suspension Bridge was first constructed by George Mackay (of Stanley Park creation fame) and opened in 1889 to cross the Capilano River. It covers a 450 ft gap across the canyon and hangs 25 stories high, apparently just the right height to look into Lady Liberty’s eyes should the NYC statue ever be dropped into the Canyon. The park continues with a treetop walkway and a small exhibit explaining First Nation Carvings. A pleasant few hours were spent wandering through the tress, looking at the dazzling views and generally enjoying the outdoors.

The next stop was Stanley Park- again, and was entirely unplanned. On the way back from the bridge there was a sign pointing to the Festival of India, and as this is a mix of tourist and local that seemed like a good place to stop. As ever, a lack of parking was an issue and it took a while before a space was found on Davie Street and the day continued with a walk around English Bay and back to the festival. Really, what could be more pleasant than watching the waves creeping up the beach and lapping up to the shore? The sun was now out, people were enjoying the beach and everything seemed to hang in that stress free, relaxed moment. Having walked from the Inukshuk Statue- moved to Vancouver from the Northwest Territories after the World Fair Expo in ’86 and originally used as a symbol of hospitality it has now been adopted for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics- and round the Festival of India (I know- the guided tour a few weeks ago may not have been the best idea) I was about ready to head home. Possibly a little too much on the tourist trail, but I was aiming to mix and match it really didn’t matter.

I did however, manage to squeeze in one last and totally unplanned activity for the day. The World Police and Fire Games were closing today and I managed to see some of the closing ceremony. I am beginning to see some of the issues the UK had compared to other nations. Most teams were there in coordinating track suits, or dressed in uniform, the “UK’ didn’t really seem sure who they were. Some had shirts saying England, some had UK, some had Team GB and the banner announcing them didn’t seem sure if Northern Ireland was included or not, Scotland seemed to have generally, if not entirely decided to separate themselves out, and Wales were dressed as daffodils- green petals and yellow flower shaped head dresses. I have to commend them for effort…

The last treat of the day was a flyby and aerial acrobatics display by the Snowbirds- the Canadian Forces aerial demonstration team, I still don’t know how they manage to coordinate all that in the air, and at the speeds they travel. I do know it was a great day and an awesome way to end it.

Next week, cheese rolling, and entirely new experience…

A year in Vancouver!

I only spout poetry when my feet hurt…

And having managed a fair amount of walking this week, I have to say my feet were starting to ache. Having managed a cursory tour of Vancouver already, on bus, I decided to venture slightly further afield and walk around a few of the slights and places I had previously driven through.

Wednesday evening saw unusually high temperatures for Vancouver and it was the turn of Team UK for the firework spectacular in the HSBC Celebration of Light. Over two weeks four teams each take a turn at setting fireworks to an appropriate piece of music. I have say I think I was ready to shed a tear when the National Anthem was played and the stirring opening bars of Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance Marches could be heard. The fireworks were amazing, you wouldn’t have expected anything else, and the whole place was buzzing. All around the bay you could see the sky light up and people on all the beaches, tower blocks and hotel windows watching. If the weather holds out for the weekend then I think I may well be in the same place on Saturday night to see the final entry in the competition for this year- The turn of China I think.

http://celebration-of-light.com/#

This weekend is a public holiday, so getting in the holiday spirit I thought I’d head back to Stanley Park, one of the largest urban spaces in North America and a fact I didn’t know until the weekend, some 20% larger than NYC’s Central Park. While I didn’t manage to cover anywhere near the 22 miles of trails that it contains I did manage a stroll along the Seawall to the Totem Poles, an aborted attempt in the late 1880s to recreate a whole village. Most the ones in the park today seem to be more recent reconstructions, yet they still manage to show a wide range of symbolic creatures and my favorites even manage to retell a story. The link to the local history being somewhat appealing.

I didn’t walk too far, but I did wander round to the lighthouse, which was a lot smaller than I had expected based on previous pictures I have seen. More of a light tower really, and since the light house keeper lived in a cottage and travelled there every day, I guess that is exactly what it was. More of a token effort than the big lighthouse you hear if in stories.

The “Girl in Wetsuit” statue is also situated in the park. It was initially a gift to the city by the sculptor Elek Imredy and despite the assertion that the statue bears no link to “The Little Mermaid” in Copenhagen I would have to disagree. The pose is almost identical, and to my mind it is just a slightly more modern interpretation of its more famous counterpart. And very much at odds with the reconstruction of the figurehead from the USS Empress of Japan which sits nearly opposite. This was installed to commemorate the trade of Vancouver with Asia. Stanley Park is an eclectic and thoroughly absorbing place, I can see I’ll be spending a fair few weekends in various points of this park as the year progresses.

My local endeavor for the week was to be a farmer’s market being held in Burnaby, it is hosted once a week from the end of June to the middle of October and this week I thought I have a brief wander around and see what was going on… Having first run around Central Park (not quite NYC) but a local park in Burnaby with a selection of marked out 5K trials I was ready for something a little different. However, I got a little distracted by the “World Fire and Police Games” which are currently taking place in and around Vancouver and I didn’t quite manage to make it to the market. The track and field events were taking place in the park while I was there, and I was impressed to hear that anyone could manage 3m 85cm in the long jump! I was also put slightly to shame by the runners who were doing 2k thru 5k warm ups before their events and seemed to look a lot more relaxed and fresher than I felt, and mine wasn’t even a warm up.

This week I feel I have managed a nice mix of activities, and I look forward to seeing what next week will bring, I may try the farmer’s market again….